Hagerty: Mismanagement, Incompetence Plague FEMA — ‘Their Mission – They’ve Gotten Far from It’

During an appearance on Chattanooga, TN radio Talk! Radio 102.3, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for mishandling Hurricane Helene relief in his state and neighboring North Carolina.

According to the Tennessee Republican U.S. Senator, the agency has abandoned its intended mission, and it was putting those here illegally ahead of Americans.

“I mean, you got the partisan media fact-checkers that are saying, well, FEMA’s funding lines for illegal immigration resettlement are different from the funding lines for disaster recovery,” he said. “Well, they shouldn’t have a funding line for, you know, illegal immigrant resettlement, and they shouldn’t be understaffed on the primary core position. That’s what I’ve been arguing. This is a matter of mismanagement. It’s a matter of incompetence.”

“When you don’t have disaster recovery fully staffed, when you can’t put people on the ground, it doesn’t matter what the budget line is,” Hagerty added. “What it means is that your management isn’t focused on the right things. And their mission – they’ve gotten far from it. If they think their mission is to resettle people that have come in here illegally when you’ve got taxpayers, American citizens, who are desperate for aid and assistance, and they’re slow to the game.”

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